DENISE LEWIS made a battling comeback to competitive heptathlon action but just missed out on a world championship medal in Paris.

DENISE LEWIS made a battling comeback to competitive heptathlon action but just missed out on a world championship medal in Paris.

While Great Britain's golden girl went quietly about her business as she took her latest step on the road to recovery from injury, it was left to Sweden's Carolina Kluft to steal the show.

Kluft gave a stunning display which saw her set personal bests in six of the seven disciplines as she romped to the title with 7,001 points to become only the third woman to break through the 7,000-point barrier.

That performance eclipsed home favourite Eunice Barber, who had to settle for silver. The bronze medal went to Natalya Sazanovich, while Lewis finished in fifth on 6,254 points, 270 behind the Belarussian.

But Lewis was pleased with her championships saying, "I could have easily missed these championships. I have had a lot of stress and hassle and a lot of bad things have been written about me which don't help, but the British public know a bit more and are interested only in what happens on the track.

"I am mentally strong and that is what gets me through all the ups and downs. There is a lot of work to be done but I am still in one piece and there are no real injuries at this moment in time. I don't feel completely exhausted, which is a plus.

"I am pleased that I made it here, that's a big positive to take out of the weekend. I need to use this as a stepping stone, I have always said that is what this was meant to be."

American Kelli White won gold in the women's 100m, posting a time of 10.85sec, ahead of compatriot Torri Edwards (10.93) with outgoing champion Zhanna Block of the Ukraine taking the bronze.

And Ethiopia swept the board in the men's 10,000m with Kenenisa Bekele taking the gold medal in a championship record time of 26:49.57. Bekele produced a winning sprint on the final lap to see off Haile Gebrselassie who had to settle for silver with Sileshi Sihine taking the bronze medal.